<p>When it says cans of cherries, are they talking that goopy cherry filling stuff? If not, can cans of cherries be found at any store? If not, does that goopy cherry stuff make for a good pie?</p>
<p>She says that Costco has a good one we could just buy, but we’re Sam’s members, not Costco.</p>
<p>Our Costco cherry pies are to die for, but are not available this time of year - I believe cherry is their “February” pie. </p>
<p>Cherry pie is my absolute favorite. Do I make it? No! But as a seasoned cherry pie eater, I would much prefer fresh/frozen cherries used over the canned stuff. I</p>
<p>f I was going to make a pie using the canned stuff w/ the thick syrup I would just buy a cherry pie out of the frozen food section - bake and eat.</p>
<p>Don’t use canned cherries! They are disgusting. You can make an okay cherry pie from frozen cherries. But really, I think the best cherry pie can only be made during the two weeks when sour cherries are in season. Cooks Illustrated did an article a while back on how to fake a sour cherry pie. They are behind a pay wall, but you can try them out free for 14 days. [Reinventing</a> Sweet Cherry Pie - Cooks Illustrated](<a href=“http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/article.asp?docid=25587]Reinventing”>http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/article.asp?docid=25587)</p>
<p>You can make a good cherry pie with the canned, goopy stuff. If you want, buy an extra can, and drain some (not too much) of the goop off before you use it, giving you more cherries and less goop. Believe it or not, your pie can get too sour and dense without any goop. Brush the top with milk and sprinkle sugar on before you bake.</p>
<p>I don’t know who your audience is, but they probably grew up on cherry pies made from canned pie filling. Serve it warm, with good vanilla ice cream.</p>
<p>Well my point was really more like Mathmom’s! I’m saying if you are planning to use canned cherries (which would not be a choice of mine) then I wouldn’t bother with all the prep and time of making a crust etc. - I would just buy a frozen pie and bake it cause IMO it won’t taste much different!</p>
<p>I would look at your frozen food section and choose the biggest (weight) pie you can find. Then it is hopefully filled with more cherry than goop and will be your best bet. Maybe Marie Callander or something like that - not Sara Lee.</p>
<p>Well, to my mind, the crust is the best (or worst) part of the pie. Do you live in a town that has a specialty pie shop? A nice grandma lady who would make one for you?</p>
<p>Oh, and I also meant to say, look in your grocery store in the section where they have the goopy pie filling. They usually also have canned cherries without the goop. Maybe this solves your dilemma. You might also find fresh cherries in the produce section, who knows.</p>
<p>And for the “good” news, like many desserts, the majority of the calories in cherry pie come from fat and sugar. However, because cherry pie contains fruit, it contains more vitamins and minerals than some other desserts</p>
<p>coureur, I see Walmart.com carries that brand. I actually was going to Walmart in 15 minutes. Guess I’ll see whether they have one. If not, any idea whether Central Market or Whole Foods does?</p>
<p>Cherry alert: The canned cherry goop is heavy on the goop, and short on the cherries. What we like: Trader Joes carries large jars of sour cherries in a thin juice-consistency syrup, and two of those, drained, make an outstanding cherry pie filling for a largish, well-filled pie. Since we don’t have a Trader Joe’s locally, we hit up a local store that carries Eastern European foods, and they sell very similar jars of sour cherries from, I think, Hungary. I drain the cherries (reserving the juice), reduce the heck out of the juice, and add some potato starch or cornstarch as a thickener. We like a tart pie, so generally don’t have to add too much sugar, but that’s a matter of taste.</p>
<p>Frozen cherries are okay. Some places may have bottled sour cherries. And I really recommend the Cooks Illustrated link, I guarantee it will be a great pie. I also agree that buying a frozen or store cherry pie is likely to be no worse than using canned cherries. Costco, by the way, makes the only store bought apple pie whose filling I’ve ever had that tastes close to homemade - so if cherry were available I’d definitely try it.</p>
<p>I struck out at the store. No frozen cherries, no frozen Claim Jumper pie, no canned or jarred sour cherries. So … I <em>gasp</em> bought a canned cherry filling but a “premium” one that claims less goop and 30% more cherries. I’ll try it today, maybe add a dash of the almond extract like the above recipe recommends and see how it tastes.</p>
<p>First test pie is done. It occurs to me that I’m not the best judge of how a cherry pie turns out because I don’t like cherry pie. The crust definitely isn’t flaky enough, I guess because of the goopy filling. It’s never been a problem with my homemade apple pie. I’m going to run by Central Market tonight and see what they sell, fresh or frozen.</p>
<p>Bummer… The deadline for Christmas orders was yesterday. But for future reference, this place makes fantastic frozen pies that come out of the oven as yummy as homemade:</p>
<p>They also supply frozen fruit to supermarkets. It is usually sold in a special section together with frozen pie crusts, not with other frozen veggies/berries.</p>
<p>ETA: I see that they do not ship pies, but frozen Remlinger pies can be sometimes found in supermarkets.</p>